


Matchstick Prayers

by dearxalchemist



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: A Collection of Drabbles, F/M, Mostly Seth/Kate in a relationship, answered prompts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-03-19 21:46:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 12,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3625386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearxalchemist/pseuds/dearxalchemist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of Seth/Kate drabbles and answered prompts. Mostly set from post season one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Long Time Coming

There’s a mix of water and desert sand spiraling down the drain and it doesn’t matter how many times she washes it away, the blood never seems to leave her. It’s matted to her skin, ensnared in her hair, and always under her nails. She scrubs anyways. She scrubs until her skin is pink and the water has gone from too hot to bone chilling cold before Kate manages to climb out, shaking to the core. Wrapping the towel around her slender form, she moved her way out of the bathroom with a wad of clothes that needed to be burned under her arm. The clothes were beyond repair, ripped to shred and covered in culebra blood. Traveling the desert with a con-man is not kind to clothing. 

"Nice outfit." Seth’s voice calls over to her and Kate turns. They’re in another cheap motel room in the middle of the Mexican desert. The AC is on high and it’s so loud it almost drowns out the ridiculous commercials on the television. 

"Vintage." She comments, holding the scratchy towel against her slender frame a little tighter, there’s a pink color spreading across her face and down her neck. There’s nothing she can do to stop the blush. It doesn’t matter how long she travels in the desert, her modesty is never yielding. She blushes to the dark roots of her hair and finally peels her gaze away from Seth long enough to drop her clothes in the new burn bag they have hanging on the back of the doorknob. There’s a new set of jeans and a plaid button up on the only bed in the room. They stopped paying extra for a room with two beds to keep their funds up. 

"I’m sorry." Seth chimes as Kate manages to dress with the towel wrapped around her. She pulls up the jeans and turns her back to Seth before dropping the wet cloth.

"For what?" Kate’s voice is quiet as she pulls on a new bra, reaching behind her to lock it in place and she doesn’t even hear him get up from the table and chair in the room. She reaches down and pulls her arm through the first sleeve of the plaid shirt, before reaching behind her and trying to find the other sleeve. Kate struggles for a moment before Seth’s hand brushes hers and he’s pulling the other half of the shirt up for her, helping her get dressed. 

The preacher’s daughter freezes for a moment and thinks about yelling at him, but she stops herself, pushing her hand through the sleeve and turning with his pulling. Seth turns Kate to face him and moves his hands down over the opening of her shirt while her gaze flicks up to his. He’s all dark eyes and dark hair while she’s a mess of freckles and sun streaked hair and his eyes are on hers while he’s fingers move over the buttons. He button’s her shirt up and stops at the collar, adjusting it and smoothing it down with his calloused hands, “For keeping you.”

He doesn’t sound the least bit sorry and Kate wants to laugh at his absurd words because this man stole everything from her and now he was apologizing. The whole situation was ridiculous and she wanted to laugh at him, strike him like the dramatic women in those novellas did, but Kate didn’t move a muscle. Her eyebrow quirked up for a moment and she licked over her bottom lip, “Keeping me?” 

"This has been a long time coming, Princess." He has rough hands and they’re on her face. He’s got his palms on her cheeks and his fingers are stretching in to her wet hair, but none of that is bothering her. Instead she find’s herself turning her head up and her balance moving to the tips of her toes as she leans up and meets him half way. Their lips touch and he’s right. This whole thing has been a long time coming, one long dance around each other. Eight months of desert sand, slaying snakes and living out of cheap Mexican hotels with crappy pools, and they did nothing but dance around each other. 

Their dance was finally done. Kate’s lips were pressing over Seth’s and he was leading her back, hands diving in to her hair and holding her up and just as quickly as it had started, it was over with her words crashing over him in a crescendo, “I forgive you.”


	2. Right Here, Right Now

Seth’s been hit. He’s been hit pretty hard and there is all this red gushing across the front of his his white button up shirt. He stumbles backwards and his jacket catches on a broken chair, tripping him up. The Gecko brother hits the edge of the bar and then the ground before his princess can get to him. She’s screaming something. Her voice is all strained and coated in panic as her knees shake and she lands next to him, hands lost. 

Kate doesn’t know where to put her hands. They’re hovering over him in panic and her fingers are shaking by the time she presses them in to the warm wet spots on the shirt. “Shit,” She curses and Seth can’t help but smirk a little, the corners of his mouth turn up at her words. Before this, before Mexico, she would have never uttered a curse. 

"I think I’m rubbing off on you." He tries to keep up a playful tone but it’s hard. Especially when her palms press over the tender spot on his chest where the culebra’s nails have embedded themselves in his flesh. His lungs are working double time and he’s having a hard time keeping his vision steady. Everything starting to go blurry and Kate’s green eyes are all he can see clearly. 

"I need to get you help." Her voice is shaking like the rest of her and he can see crimson smears across her face, but none of the blood is hers. 

With a calloused hand, the con-man reaches up and presses his palm to her cheek. He turns her face up away from his blood soaked chest and makes her look at him. His thumb is sliding over the curve of her cheek and he’s trying to keep his voice even as he speaks, “No. I’ll be fine. This is okay, this, this Princess is nothing.” 

He tries to smile at her, but the young girl is shaking her head to him, “No, you need help.” Her voice is desperate and she’s pressing a little closer to him. Her cheek is turned in to his palm and her hands are pressed in to his chest with all her weight, “I’m going to go get help.” 

Kate moves to let go of him but Seth has other plans. Instead he moves his hand down from her cheek and grips on to the collar of her shirt, holding her in place. “Don’t leave me Princess.” His voice has lost almost all of it’s strength and his grip on her is all he has. 

"I just really need to have you here right now." 

Her lips press together in a thin worried line but she nods her head to him. There are tears stinging at the corner of her eyes and she leans in a bit, pressing her lips to his forehead where she whispers against his skin, “Okay.”


	3. Intuitions

The nightmare never ends. It’s the same one over and over again. It doesn’t matter how long the man has been dead, he still haunts Seth. His words are sharp and loud, echoing in his dreams, ripping away any bit of pride he managed to hold on to. His father paces in his dream, leans over him and the smell of smoke and liquor is overwhelming along with the lingering disappointment. The nightmares always get worse. Sometimes Richie is there, only he’s not his Richie. He’s her Richie with fangs, scales and an appetite for blood. 

Other times there’s Kate and he has his hands on her. He’s holding her by the shoulders and shaking her, his father’s hands are on his angel. They leave behind dirty hand prints and sweat stains. He shakes her and tells her to stop crying, tells Seth in his nightmares to work faster, harder — always be better. It’s all he can do to keep calm in these dreams. He can’t focus on putting the gun back together, assembling a thousand little pieces just to get Kate back. The more his father shakes Kate, the more his fingers don’t work, the more he kicks in the bed and it jerks her free of sleep. 

They’re in another hotel, another night on a thin mattress with scratchy sheets and a loud air conditioner blowing in the background. The two are curled up on a single queen size bed and tangled in sheets. Only Seth is up again and now so is Kate as he’s kicked her again, shouting in his sleep to his deceased father. Sitting up, Kate pulls the sheets around her torso out of habit. She’s wearing his button up shirt from earlier in the day and not much more. It’s cheaper to buy a room with a single bed, it’s so much easier than Seth crawling in to her bed in the middle of the night. Now, he just turns over and she’s there. Only this time Kate is up first. Her smaller hands are moving down and wrapping around his shoulders as he leans in to her. His dark head lays across her lap while her fingers start their soothing patterns. They drag along his short hair, which is starting to get speckled with silver, and back down to the back of his neck. His head turns in to her abdomen and he exhales this breath that leaves him shuddering.

"Seth…" Kate whispers in the darkness of the hotel room. Her voice is so small against the sound of the old air unit in the window. The fingers on the back of his head never stop their moving, "Seth, talk to me." 

After a moment or two of silence he pulls his head up and turns over a bit more, looking up at her in the dark room. He can only make out bits and pieces of her sharp features, but he looks on anyways. Clearing his throat the bad man finally speaks, “They don’t seem to ever go away.” 

Her heart feels like it’s being squeezed when he speaks. She wants to wrap her arms around him and ask him to pray, because that’s what they did at home. That’s what her mother did, that’s what her father did. They prayed and prayed until the world took them away. 

"They will." Kate whispered once more, "You just got to trust your intuition."


	4. I Love You This Much

"You’re insane!" Kate’s yelling. Her face is flushed, tinged red and her chest is heaving with anxiety. There’s dried spots of blood covering her pale pink tank top and jagged rips down her side where a culebra decided to grab a hold of her. Seth is focused on the red spots across her stomach, worried that some of it may be her blood, but when he moves his hand out to check, Kate moves to the side. She’s kneeling over him and her bottom lip is tucked between her teeth with worry as she starts undoing the buttons on his once-white shirt.

Seth tries not to wince at the sound of her voice. The world around him is blurry and edged in black. The room has small fires burning themselves out on the bar, nothing is left alive inside. Nothing except the two fugitives worrying over one another. Seth drug her in to the bar for a final drink of the night and it turned out to be another nest of bloodsuckers. One thing led to another and Seth threw the first punch. Everything went downhill from there, including the claws embedded in his chest. “If you wanted to undress me Princess, you could have just asked.” 

At least Kate was unscathed. She would have bruises in the morning, but she had no wounds like his. None of the blood on her belonged to her. She was safe another night. Her little fingers were moving down the buttons, pulling the edges of his shirt apart and exposing his chest. There’s bits of fabric stuck against the crimson on his chest and there is five claws broken off in the flesh. He tries not to hiss when her fingers pull one of them out. Jaw clenched, the Gecko brother reaches over and grabs on to her wrist. His fingers wrap around the slender wrist and he shakes his head at her to slow down jut a bit.

”Easy, easy, Princess.” Seth doesn’t like his voice like this. It’s hoarse and airy, makes him sound like a dying man when in reality he’ll recover just fine, because Kate always takes care of him. Kate dotes because she has no one else. He stole her from the people in her life, took her hostage and decided to keep her when she didn’t want to leave. Even though countless times he’s offered to drop her at the border, she never leaves. 

"You’re not invincible, Seth." Kate moves her other hand over and pries his grip off of her wrist. She holds his hand gently in her two and folds her hands over his palm for a moment. Her palm is all soft and warm despite being able to wield make-shift stakes like a professional killer. "You’ve got to stop acting like you are, you’re going to get killed and then…" 

Her voice cracks. She sounds like she’s the same little girl back in the RV. Not like the woman who’s been on the run with him for eight months and counting. Her hair is a little longer, skin a little darker and here he is, making her cry again. The edges of her green eyes are brimming with tears and she looks away from him to the ceiling and then down, down to the damage they’ve caused in yet another Mexican bar. 

Her next words are nearly silent, “Then you’ll leave me, and I’ll be alone.” 

Being alone wasn’t the worst thing in her mind, it was being alone and having to bury his body that was. Burying Seth Gecko was not on her list, not when she had come from loathing him to loving him in a full three-sixty circle. Besides they hadn’t even rescued Richie yet, or seen a trace of Scott, he couldn’t leave her with his unfinished business. Seth groaned softly and it brought Kate’s attention back down on to him. His chest was bleeding but if she could just move him, they could get back to the cheap hotel and bandage him up. 

"You’re being ridiculous." Seth chastised her, sitting up on a elbow as he squeezed her hand with his. 

"No!" Kate instantly shouted the word, gaining a bit of momentum as she shifted up on to her knees. "You don’t understand do you? Do you know how much I love you?" 

The words fell out before she could stop them. The sudden confession ringing out along the silence in the destroyed bar. A flush of red crept up along her throat and she felt her heart slam against her rib cage. She hadn’t meant to say those words so soon. Anger had gotten the better of her. After a moment of silence, he started laughing. It was low and painful as the action vibrated his chest, “Strike two, Katie. Do you know how much I do?”


	5. Never Stood A Chance

She looks ethereal in that dress. She looks like some sort of dream, illusion in the sand with white fabric floating up along her skinned knees. It’s a stark white cut of fabric, but probably won’t be that color for long with all the red dust kicking up around them. They’re drying with the windows down, going way too fast. His foot is on the accelerator and her hair is a tangled mess. When she reaches up to swipe it away, the ring on her finger catches the light. It’s small, gold, and stolen, but priceless in sentimental value and she’s twisting it back and forth with little fingers. He asked her months ago to make things official, she never answered him, but she wears the ring regardless. Seth never stood a chance that day she asked him if he wanted company. He should have known things would end up like this. He should have known he’d pull the wings off of her back and keep her grounded with his bad, bad ways. Before he realizes it, he’s been staring at her for far too long and not at the road like he should be doing. 

"Something wrong?" She asks him breaking the silence around them, leaning back. Her head lays back against the seat and her arms cross under her chest trying to look smug but, there’s nothing smug with the way her lips curve up and the smile reaches her eyes. Kate has caught him staring. The road around them is practically deserted and nothing but endless red sand with the occasional dried up cactus. 

"No," Seth answers her way too quickly. Reaching up, Seth hooks a hand along the back of his neck and rubs away the tension caught along the muscles. He shrugs his shoulders, looking back to the road and ignoring tan legs that are crossed at the ankle up to the white dress wrapped around her slender frame. If he could get away with it, he’d stay like this forever. Just the two of them, living day to day on the run. They’re a regular criminal duo. Complete with their own scams and plans for everywhere they stop. Sometimes they’re together and sometimes she’s his hostage all over again to get fast cash. Together they’ve robbed a hundred plus convenience stores but it’s always Seth who pulls the trigger. Kate never draws a gun, she never utters a threat, she never loses the cross wrapped around her pretty throat.

"You’re lying." Kate chimes with this sweet little voice. She turns in her seat, facing him with a curious brow raised.

Seth looks away from the road again with a slight smirk, “Prove it.”

Kate rolls her light green eyes and shifts a little closer, ignoring the pull of the seat-belt across her chest. Her hands plant down on the middle cushion between them and her gaze is mapping the side of his face when one hand leaves the wheel. He lets his fingers dive in to her tangled hair and pulls her as close as the seat-belt will allow them, his palm smoothing over the back of her neck. Seth Gecko is a bad man. He’s a criminal with stolen goods and now he’s kissing her. The car slows as he hits the brakes with careful ease. There is no one around for miles, but he rather be safe than run off the road with the angel in the passenger seat. The kiss is another notch in his bad-boy reputation, kissing the woman he stole is probably some unholy sin but Seth doesn’t care. He never stood a chance when Kate Fuller asked him for company.


	6. Old Dog, New Tricks

"I can’t drink that." 

Kate’s voice is sort of meek. A softness that doesn’t sound like she’s been slaying culebra for the last eight months of their trip in Mexico. They’re sitting at the pool side off yet another motel. It’s small and dusty, but at least the pool is clean. Her legs are stretched out along the seat, the towel under her is faded pink and it looks like it’s seen better days. Still she looks comfortable and all grown up despite only being on the brink of nineteen. 

He’s a bad man looking at her the way he does and he doesn’t even care anymore. Still, he doesn’t want to stare too long or they won’t get to enjoy the last bit of sun before the moon take’s over the sky. So, the man turns back to his bottle and brings it up to his mouth. The liquor is a dark amber color and burns going down. He hasn’t stop drinking since leaving his brother behind. There’s no point in stopping now, so he takes another drink and passes the bottle over.

The preacher’s daughter shakes her head no to him, lips pursed and nose wrinkling. She’s got a splattering of freckles across that face, sunspots from endless sunbathing and all Seth wants to do is count them. He tries not to, but finds himself doing it anyways when they’re alone in hotel rooms. Seth nudged the bottle at her again and she pushes his hand away with a quick, “No.” 

"Ease up Princess." Seth moves and stands, holding the bottle and taking another sip. He takes more than a sip. It’s more like a couple of gulps and reaches down, a hand out to her. He’s wearing a suit still and she’s in this stolen two piece swimsuit. It’s dark blue with pink hearts, she looks like a careless teenager on spring break, "Come on." 

Kate looks up at him skeptically before reaching up and taking his hand. He pulls her off of the folded out chair and to her feet. She’s short, barely reaching his shoulder but it doesn’t stop him from leaning in and kissing her. It’s short and rough and he tastes like whiskey. He breaks the kiss and offers her the bottle again. This time she takes a long pull of the alcohol and makes a face but her sour face doesn’t last long before he’s kissing her again and then backs her up. They’re stepping closer and closer to a dangerous edge. “We’ve never tried this before,” Kate’s voice is soft against his mouth.

"It’s good yeah?" Seth is talking of the whiskey but Kate’s hands are up and taking his jacket off, this is the first time they’ve kissed out in the open, out in public where people could see. 

"Yeah, and this." Her voice is soft and airy before she plants both of her small calloused hands on his chest and then shoves. Seth stumbles for a moment but gravity is against him and he falls back in to the crystal clear waters of the pool. 

Kate is an eruption of girlish giggles before she leans down and picks up the bottle of forgotten alcohol, “See you back at the room, old man.”


	7. Always A Surprise

He wakes up in the early minutes of dawn, beating the sun to it’s post and she’s there. She’s always there, just tangled in thin sheets and a mess of hair. Despite his best intentions to leave her behind it never works. It’s always a surprise to him when she comes back. Kate keeps by him like there’s an invisible leash no matter how many times he’s driven to the border and offered to leave her. She won’t budge. 

She’s lost everything to the Gecko brothers and their misadventure for El Rey. Her father, her brother, and she’s beginning to wonder if she’s lost her sanity to the sands of the desert too. Even so she keeps by him. Seth thinks it’s because he needs saving and the one person to do that is a preacher’s daughter. So when he reaches over to touch her face, she turns her cheek in to his palm. Her eyes are closed with sleep, breathing soft and even. Seth’s palm slides over her warm cheek and his thumb slides down to trace the edge of her lips. He lingers in these pre-dawn moments, willing the world to slow down, for time to stop just a minute longer so he can trace the outlines of an angel. 

He doesn’t get to memorize anything for long because in just a few seconds of making his map, emerald eyes are fluttering open. They’re dark green in this lighting and watching him with a curious gaze. Her lips start to quirk up and Seth traces his thumb over the curve.

"Seth." She whispers his name quietly in the dark.

"Kate." He breathes out her name with ease, leaning in and smoothing his palm up in to the tangled snarls of her hair. His mouth touches hers for a moment and this is the second time they’ve kissed in months, the first one long forgotten in the wake of this one as she lets him cling to a chance of salvation.


	8. Experience

It’s very hard to get blood out from under fingernails. Especially since her hands wont stop shaking and it’s everywhere. It’s coating her palms and staining the sleeves of her plaid shirt. There’s flecks of it spattered over her face blending in with countless freckles and she’s on the edge of what feels like is the end of the world. The water coming out of the faucet is tinged rust colored and Kate doesn’t know if that’s from blood or the old pipes in the motel they’re held up in. The water is on full blast and she’s shaking trying to scrub as hard as she can with her bottom lip tucked up in to her teeth and her eyes brimming with tears. She’s killed countless culebra since this adventure started, since she got in the car with a criminal, but this time is different. The blood on her hands is not culebra. It’s human and it’s still sticky, tacky against her flesh and making her sick to her stomach. 

Her insides are churning as she scrubs again, the water in the sink is turning pink now but she doesn’t stop. The preacher’s daughter doesn’t even stop when the knock sounds at the door. This pathetic squeak comes out of her mouth, telling him to go away. She knows who is on the other side of the door but won’t open it. It’s the man who did this to her, the man who turned her in to this mess. He knocks again and this time Kate shouts at him, “Go away!” 

The knocking pauses but not before the knob turns. She’s so thankful in that moment that she’s locked the door, barricaded herself in her own misery. That little moment of victory is soon gone when the wood splinters on the door. His foot his connected with the cheap bathroom door and he’s broken his way into her domain. She shouldn’t be surprised at this, but jumps anyways, not taking her hands out from the sink. Seth fixes his shirt like breaking down the door was a minor inconvenience and strides in to the small bathroom. There’s not a whole lot of room for both of them in there and she’s too determined to get the blood out from under her nails to yell at him. 

It doesn’t take Seth long to see her hands or what she’s doing, or the distress all over her face. Reaching over for a spare wash cloth he runs it under the water and steps up behind her. In the dirty mirror she can just make out his shoulders above her head, he’s leaning over her and taking her hands out of the flow of water. Carefully he runs the wash cloth under each finger nail, gently scrubbing away the bits of blood. Seth’s nose is buried against the top of her head for a moment, breathing in smells of copper and desert sand, mixed with whatever kind of shampoo the hotel stocks, underlying sweetness that’s all Kate. His hands trace over her smaller ones, turning her palms up as he scrubs the blood away. She’s still shaking and she should be. She killed a man to save him. She picked up his revolver and shot without so much as aiming. She shot blindly to save him from receiving the same fate of a robbery gone bad. He owed her one and so much more now. Not only had Seth Gecko stolen her, but he’d selfishly kept her. 

He turned her hands over again and Kate blinked a few times. Most of the blood was gone and the wash cloth was now a pink color. “H-How did you?” She asked not comprehending how he was able to get rid of the blood so easily. 

Seth didn’t answer her as he rinsed out the cloth once more and then turned her to face him. He bent down a bit, nose brushing over hers for a moment before he brought the rag back up and gently wiped away the speckles across her face, “I’ve had some experience in that department, Princess.”


	9. What You Like

They’re barely scraping by to make ends meet south of the border. Their food is running low and money even lower as each day passes. They’re not closer to where they want to be either. They are just sinking lower and lower in the desert sand, unable to keep their heads up as no more rumors of Richie and his Santanico surface. Held up in yet another motel, Seth is pacing. He looks nothing like the man who held a gun to her all those months ago. His suit is gone, zipped up in a dry cleaners bag stolen from another motel. It’s too expensive to keep cleaning it in between cons that will never likely happen. Seth hasn’t run a con without his brother, he tried to with Kate but she’s not the criminal type and he doesn’t want to corrupt her anymore than he already has. Seth keeps up his pacing. He goes from one end of the small room to the other and Kate is watching him. No longer dressed in an expensive suit, he wears second hand jeans that are well pass worn in and a t-shirt that was probably white a long time ago. Now it’s a beige color with sand streaks and a sweat ring around the collar that only gets worse as he keeps up his pacing. 

Kate is still watching him. She watches the way his lips move like he’s formulating a plan, running through the details to get them more money. Like he’s going to try to run a con on his own, the way his lips twitch is distracting her from her reading. A tattered novel is in her fingers, picked up with her own thrift store clothes. She wears a shirt two sizes too big and shorts that are cutting off circulation to her legs. They can’t afford to be picky right now, they have no money for unnecessary expenses, so Kate doesn’t complain. Besides it’s too hot to wear much of anything else even with the air conditioner on the wall on full blast. It rattles the wall under the window every time it cuts on, drowning out any words he may be muttering. 

Seth paces again and this time moves his hands as if in a talkative gesture. There is dirt under his nails, scruff on his jaw and his hair is unruly as it curls along the back of his neck. His antics are making it hard for her to concentrate and before she knows it, she’s snickering. The soft snickering catches his attention and the conman stops his pacing, turning his head over to her. She’s sitting with her back to the headboard, legs stretched out along the thin cover of the firm mattress and that grin on her face. It’s subtle and shy almost but he knows she is laughing at him. 

"What is it?" Seth asks her with a tilt of his head. He’s stopped right on the corner of the bed, a hand reaching up and rubbing at the back of his neck as he watches her for a moment. She’s fighting to hide the grin and failing miserably, "Well?"

He tries again but she doesn’t answer him just yet. She’s trying to go back to her novel, but then she’s giggling once more and it’s only getting worse the more he looks at her with an eyebrow raised. Her grin is infectious and he finds himself trying not to smirk at her as she shakes her brown head to avoid the question. Kate is fighting with herself to stop laughing at how simple he looks without his suit on. He’s not intimidating anymore. He’s almost like the boys next door in California with their scruffy faces and devil-may-care hair. 

Her giggles quickly turn in to a squeal as she’s suddenly pulled away from the headboard as his hand wraps around her tan leg. Seth has grabbed a hold of her and tugged her halfway down the bed. Part of her over sized shirt has ridden up and her hair is fanned out behind her like a halo, and she is still giggling. Her lips are parted as her laughter get’s a little louder, echoing off of the walls of the cheap motel room. 

"Tell me," Seth is leaning over her now. His scruffy jaw brushes over the exposed bit of flesh as he speaks to her. The tip of his nose brushes along a path around her naval as he tries to get her to speak. It only causes the preacher’s daughter to squirm and she finally breaks. 

"You just look…" She trails off looking down at him for a moment before she laughs again, "So different." Kate doesn’t know how to tell him that he doesn’t look intimidating anymore with these plain clothes, "Like boys from my church."

"So this is what you like?" He speaks with an eyebrow raised, lips ghosting over her tan skin from way too many days by the pool. Seth is focused on one thing right now and it’s getting the truth from the smiling girl who’s laughs are echoing off of the ceiling. Maybe she doesn’t like his expensive suits, maybe she does but for now they don’t have the luxury of living that way. Not while they wait for his brother to make his grand appearance. So for now he’ll take what makes her happy, even if it’s his simple look unshaven face. "Well Princess, it’s all we got for now."


	10. There's A Reason

The room smells like warm metal in a way that reminds her of the playground outside of the church where her father used to preach. It’s almost comforting to smell it and see the familiar curve of his back facing her. Kate’s legs are tangled in thin sheets and she’s wearing an over sized shirt, buried against the cheap motel bed. Her hair is a tangled mess, plastered to the side of her freckled face and it’s partially in her view of the naked back facing her. 

Seth is counting again. His lips are barely moving, voice so low she can’t hear it over the rumble of the air conditioning unit under the window, but she knows he’s counting. He think she hasn’t caught on, but Kate has. He times himself every morning. He counts the seconds while his fingers shake. His whole body is on edge. There’s sweat beading up at the edge of his hairline and sliding down the back of his neck. The muscles across his back are tensed and she can see him start to falter. 

His father’s voice is screaming in his mind, echoing in his ears and rattling him to the bones. Bullets fall to the cheap table and ring out across the room. He curses so loudly he almost forgets she’s in the room with him. Seth’s hand sweeps across the table and pieces of the gun are scattered to the floor along with all the springs and ammunition. He stands so fast that the chair falls back on to the floor and his hands are suddenly up and pressed over his face. His back shudders as he exhales so loudly that Kate is sitting up a little higher in the bed. She pulls the sheets up over her even though she’s mostly dressed, part of her is afraid he’s lost in his memories again. Completely dwelling on someone long gone, but who Kate doesn’t know. There has to be a reason for his early morning counting, for his breakdowns, for these excessive bursts of frustration. There’s a cause of it, but what she doesn’t know because Seth Gecko doesn’t share. Not even with her. Every now and then he lets something slip but it’s never more than a sliver of something more. 

Her green eyes slide over his back. She watches the way his muscles move as he hunches over the table, putting both hands down on to the wood. She can see his tattoo from her place on the bed. The flames lick all the way up to his shoulder and dip over the back. She’s traced it a thousand times over and she wants to do it again, out of a soothing habit. Carefully the preacher’s daughter slides off of the bed and quietly sets her bare feet on the rough carpet. Her footsteps are soft and silent. Without warning she puts her arms around his middle and presses her cheek against his bare back, closing her eyes softly. Seth tenses up at first, his counting is long over with and the frustration melting away. After a few silent moments he moves his hands down and covers hers with his, holding her there. They don’t say anything and the two don’t move a muscle. They sit there in the silence, soaking in their new normal, pushing away demons from the past with every sunrise that greets them. Together they can accomplish it all.


	11. We Really Need To Talk

She’s being reckless. Stupid and reckless, and it’s going to get them killed. It’s going to do nothing more than put them in to an early grave under the desert sand. Kate is swinging blindly, she’s not protecting her sides. Her shirt is half shredded and her skin is speckled with blood. Thankfully none of it is hers but that could all change in an instant if she carries on with her blind rage. Her lips are parted in a hoarse battle cry as she slams a stake in to the rib cage of a scale-covered body. The culebra lets out an ear piercing shriek before it crumbles against Kate. The sudden weight drags the petite girl down a bit, before the body begins its quick decomposition. 

Kate’s knees hit the ground from the sudden weight and there’s more culebra on her now than before. She should have listened to him. She shouldn’t have gone in blind, ranting and raving, swinging a stake like she knew what she was doing. They’ve only been traveling for a few months. Three? Maybe four? All since he left his brother behind and he didn’t even let the girl grieve. Now she’s taking her anger out on anything with fangs. 

She’s taking pages from his book. Drinking too much, letting the alcohol spill out of the corner of her lips. Letting her mouth spew insults without thinking things through. (Of course her insults are almost too pg-rated for them to matter.) It draws them too much attention. It leads to one too many brawls in Mexican bars, it leads them to one too many near death experiences. Like what they’re experiencing now. They’re out numbered and Seth has one idea and only one. Reaching in to his suit pocket he draws out the revolver. It’s not going to kill any of them but, it will slow them down long enough for him to work out this stupid plan. Turning on a quick heel he reaches down and grabs Kate by the upper arm. He’s dragging her up to her feet and pulling her in to his side like he did back at the Dew Drop Inn. She’s tucked under his arm and he fires the first shot. A couple of the culebra hiss and draw back. They’re like feral cats with the way they move and hiss, necks resembling snakes, all ungodly creatures that haunt their nightmares. He fires off another shot and jerks Kate in closer to his body. They’re moving back in quick short steps backwards. He moves his hand down between them and shoves Kate away from him towards the door behind the bar. “Go!” 

“What?” She stumbles from his shoving, bloody hands grabbing on to the bar for a moment as her feet crunch down on broken glass. Seth fires off another shot and it’s deafening. 

“I said go!” He’s running to her now. His hand grabs on to her once more and they’re running behind the bar and through a door marked ‘employees only’. They run pass what looks like a storage room full of dust and liquor bottles. Shelves and boxes are everywhere, stacked to the ceiling and blocking their way out. Seth swings a leg up and starts knocking boxes over, pushing them out of the way. Behind a stack of them is a fire exit. With one quick shove he kicks the door in with his shoe and an alarm sounds off in the distance. They both ignore the sound as the door swings open exposing them to a pre-dawn light. Seth shoves Kate out of the door first before following. He pulls the door shut tightly and moves to her again. He grabs on to the back of her jacket and steers her in a brisk pace towards one of the cars parked along the back. With the sun coming up, they are safe outside for now. Only Seth keeps running, dragging Kate hard enough that her feet leave the ground every few steps. Both of them are covered in blood and Seth leaves Kate gasping for air when he turns her, slamming her back into a nearby abandoned truck.

“You gotta death wish Princess?” He asks her with this loud tone, his head is too close and she can feel the scruff of his jaw scratch along her cheek as he leans in. He keeps her pushed against this car and his head finally falls. He tucks himself into the crook of her neck and breathes deep, “We need to have a serious conversation about your choice of grieving.”


	12. Like Normal People

It’s so hot out the pool doesn’t help much, but it’s better than standing outside in a suit like Seth is doing with his cellphone pressed to his ear. Her hand smacks the top of the water again and for a moment it’s steady on the surface before she pushes it under and steers herself backwards. Kate is floating on her back, eyes squinting up to the crystal clear sky. There’s not a cloud insight. Just endless blue skies and the sun off to her right, blistering away her skin, giving her more freckles and an even deeper tan. Carefully the preacher’s daughter closes her eyes and floats along an empty pool at yet another motel along the side of the desert highway. Their routine is never ending and constantly a recycle of the same events just different places at different times in the middle of the night. They drive dirt road after dirt road, seeking out any rumor of his brother and the Snake Queen. Kate’s brows furrow together as she floats along the center of the pool. Her fingers stretch out along the surface of the over chlorinated water and even her toes go still as the night in the twister comes back to her all over again. Then again, it never really leaves her. The smell of booze and blood, the gritty feeling of sand in wounds and the unmistakable feeling of loss. All of it assaults her and Kate doesn’t want to float anymore. She wants to sink. 

With a quick breath she turns over, blowing bubbles against the surface before easing up, opening her eyes under the water. They already start to burn from the chemicals but she manages to keep them open, ignoring the screaming in her lungs as she floats along the motel pool. The memories of her mother and father can’t get to her when her eyes are open. Scott’s blood soaked lips can’t reappear if she doesn’t close her eyes. Her fingers still against the water as she floats along the center, casting a shadow down on the bottom of the patterned liner. There’s nothing but the humming of the pool pump and filter before something crashes in to the water. There’s a wall of white bubbles too close to her head and Kate closes her eyes, feeling the waves push her back from the sudden impact. Then suit covered legs brush in to her vision and arms are around her, pulling her up and out of the water. Her hair is suddenly very heavy and plastered itself to sun kissed cheeks. Her lungs instantly gasped for air out of shock rather than habit. A calloused hand pressed over the side of her face, pushing away wet hair and exposing her gaze to the bright world. 

“Jesus fuckin--,” Seth is swearing. His suit is ruined and he has water beading up along his face, drops are stuck on his lashes. Kate is too busy staring at them, not hearing the colorful words that are falling from his mouth as he pulls them close to the side of the pool, even though he can stand here he still wants to keep her steady. With one arm around her middle he lifts her up and sets her bikini covered bottom on the rough concrete. Despite still being in the dark suit, Seth doesn’t get out of the water. Instead he moves closer to Kate, pushing her legs apart and keeping her still against the edge of the water. His breathing is still uneven and when Kate looks around she sees his cell phone open and discarded on the sidewalk not far from the pool. He dropped everything and ran to her. He ruined his last good suit for her, “What were you doing?” 

His voice is rough and almost silent but she can feel the anger in his words. Brows pulling together she parts her lips but isn’t sure exactly how she’s supposed to answer that question. Carefully she picks her words, “I was just floating.”

“Bullshit!” Seth shouts this time, his head turned up to hers and his hands gripping on to her hips. He’s going to leave bruises at this rate. “People don’t just float face down in the pool, Princess.” 

Her nickname is almost a whisper on his lips before his hands let up and he lets his head fall. His forehead presses over the soft plane of her belly before he moves his cheek down to the tops of her thighs. His jaw is scratchy against her skin but Kate doesn’t say anything about it. Instead she carefully moves her hands down and smooths them over his damp hair. He’s still standing in the pool where the water now has gone still. They’re the only ones out there, probably one of the only guests in the whole place. Her calloused fingers smooth down the back of his head, playing where the dark hair gets short behind his ears. 

“I didn’t mean to…” Kate starts but then stops and bites on the inside of her cheek for a moment. She holds the soft flesh in her jaws for a moment before letting go, “I was just thinking.”

Seth’s eyes are closed but he still scoffs at her words. His breath is warm against her flesh and he’s still holding on to her like she’s a lifeline. Fingers burying themselves in her hips, “Next time do you think, you can think like a normal person? Not face down in the pool? I’m too old for that kind of scare.” 

She wants to laugh at his words. Because their world is full of monsters and snakes, but her floating face down in the pool is what scares him. It’s almost absurd how much his statement warms her from the inside out. Kate’s fingers smooth down and stop at the base of his neck. He hasn’t moved still and part of her doesn’t want him to but it must be hot in that suit. Still, she doesn’t say anything. Kate just sits there, slightly hunched over blocking the sun from his handsome face and hands smoothing over his hair like he did for her when the nightmares just got too much for her to handle, “I’ll try to think like normal people think.” 

Kate can feel him smile against her legs. His scruff brushes over her skin when he does, sending off sparks of electricity and he’s holding on to her a little tighter. There’s a soft rumble of a chuckle from his chest as it climbs free of his throat and he turns his head over, rubbing once more against the spot before he turns his head in and kisses the red mark where his beard has irritated the flesh. His lips are soft, ghosting over the spot before he turns his head up to her. Kate’s hands smooth away from his neck and she presses them on to the rough concrete, leaning back a bit to look in to his dark eyes. 

“You owe me a new suit, Princess.” He explains as his hands finally move from her hips and on to the concrete. For a moment they cover hers and then he presses his palms down on the sidewalk next to hers and heaves himself out of the pool. His suit has soaked up so much water that it looks heavy and he’s dripping cold water over her. He’s also leaning over her now, holding himself up and then pressing his mouth over hers. It’s sideways and clumsy but nothing they ever do is perfect, and Kate kisses him back anyways. Her hands cover the tops of his as he hauls himself out of the pool and plants knees on either side of her sitting form. Her legs kick back into the pool water and she’s smiling against his mouth as more water leaves the pool, puddling around them. Then before she can coax it into anything more, he’s pulling away from her. Seth moves away from her, pulling his coat off and slinging it over his arm before taking a few wet-steps towards his phone. His shoes squeak from all water and Kate has to hold back a snicker as he frowns at the sound of it all. 

“You owe me new shoes too.”


	13. He Leaves Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a continuous ficlet from CHAPTER 12 of this little collection. - This is NSFW. Contains mild pwp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a continous ficlet from Chapter 12 of this collection. This takes place before anything in Season 2.

He definitely left bruises. They stand out against her pale skin as she reaches down and starts peeling off the wet swimsuit. She’s standing in the middle of the bathroom in another cheap motel room. It’s small and the door sort of locks, just not all the way and the mirror is too tall, making her stand near the shower just to see her hips. She can see tan-lines and a spare freckle here and there across the expanse of her hips. There’s also the familiar darkening of skin, proof of bruising. Peeling back the rest of her suit, she throws them on the ground listening to the wet slap echo off of the bathroom tile. All as Kate turns on the shower, turning the faucet all the way to the little silver ‘H’ as she climbs in closing the plexi-glass door behind her in the stall. The water is warm at first before it starts to really heat up. Steam is already billowing up along the wall as she puts her hands out first and then steps into the warm spray. Hot water splashes over her face and her eyes flutter shut as she immerses herself under the full spray. Water rushes over her and it’s warmer than in the pool, washing over her ears and blotting out her hearing.

She doesn’t hear the sound of the door handle jiggling or the sharp swear as his suit hits the tile, covering her bikini bits. His expensive suit is ruined. It’s already fading in color and smells like cheap chlorine. Seth’s hands moved over the buttons of his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it on top of his jacket before moving to his pants. He kicks off his shoes last and looks over. The mirror is quickly fogging up and he can see her in the reflection through the cheap glass of the shower stall. This is all kinds of wrong. Minutes ago he thought she had died. That she had turned and drowned in the motel’s cheap swimming pool. Minutes ago he had just been content with kissing her. That content was long gone now that he could see glimpses of her in the mirror. Just simple glimpses between the foggy streaks on the glass. Moving a hand up and over his face, he scratches along his jawline before making the decision. One he knows he probably shouldn’t make but, that’s never stopped him before. Turning away from the mirror the con-man moves for the shower, opening the glass door and pulling it closed behind him. The sudden sound makes her jerk back, eyes opening under the warm spray of water where she moves her head to the side, feeling confusion for a moment but that all fades away when Seth moves forward and into the spray of water. In a moment they’re kissing again. It’s so much better than the chlorine filled one they shared earlier. This kiss is more intimate, more reassuring.

Seth’s broken cell phone is on the table by the old rattling AC unit and he can’t even be bothered to go pick up a new burner just yet. He doesn’t let his mind linger on the broken technology because his hands are too busy digging into her wet hair. Fingers slipping onto the base of her skull, scraping against the scalp gently as his mouth presses harder over hers.

Minutes ago he thought he had lost her.

The one thing he had left.

She was the one thing he had left. 

Kate was all he had since his brother had left him for the Snake Queen. When Kate kisses him back though, he knows he hasn’t lost her. Not yet of course. Not ever if he chooses, and right now that’s his only choice as his hands smooth down from the crown of her head. Fingers tracing down along the slope of her neck where he’s pulling her up closer. The tips of her toes slip against the tub as he does so. A small cry of protest against his mouth is the only sound he needs to move closer to her. Her back hits the cold tile first and then hands are back at her waist. He’s touching over the bruised spots once more, a little more gentle this time. It’s almost like he’s apologizing to her for the earlier treatment. For yelling at her, for his rough hands. For everything. He is apologizing for it all in silent gestures. He wraps an arm around the small of her back and pulls her up. Kate’s mouth falls from his own as her legs scramble for a moment. This type of closeness isn’t new for them, but it’s always a surprise when it comes on. Her legs slide over his with the water from the shower falling over both of them. She scrambles against him for a moment, hips pushing into his like this is how they should always fit, and they do. They fit so well together it’s almost criminal. She enables his drinking, she pushes for the kisses and he never objects. She’s a crutch he needs and he needs her right now. His hands slid down over the bruises where he squeezes again. Tomorrow she’ll have an array of purple and yellow bruises that he’ll kiss like he always does with a sloppy apology that she’ll accept because he’s all she’s got now.

No word of Richie. No word of his red-lipped Snake Queen. Seth and Kate are lost below the border, scraping by, on the run and she’s sliding down the tile so quick that he has to pick her up. It’s not graceful. It’s the sound of the skin squeaking under weight, the sound of her hands pressing against the plexiglas walls. The pads of her fingers are sliding down making trails in the fog. His lips pull away from hers and they’re both gasping for air, struggling to breathe against the steam. Seth’s forehead presses over hers and he kisses the corner of her mouth before moving down. Before Kate can turn and kiss him back, he’s already moving on. His lips are burning a trail right down the column of her throat, his scruff is scratching along in his wake. Everything is a blur. Her eyes flutter shut and she turns her head back for him, feeling him press her back further against the shower wall.

Kate locks her legs around his waist and pulls him in closer as his lips slip against the front of her clavicle and now she’s almost worried he can feel her heart slamming against her chest. If he kisses any lower she’s certain he’ll feel it. She can hear it along with the rush of blood to the head as he moves a hand from her waist down against the fleshy part of her thigh. His calloused fingers trace circles and oval shapes as he presses closer and in this moment Kate feels hotter than the water falling from the shower head. Everywhere he touches burns and it’s the best feeling the world. This is better than making out in the back of any church, she’s certain of that when his tongue slides up her throat and his fingers move up next. Without so much as a warning he pushes a finger inside of her and Kate is no longer silent. Her voice echoes in the enclosed shower and she can feel his lips turning up, grinning against her. He’s too damn proud of himself. Turning her head down she presses her lips against his temple, right against the edge of his wet hair. Her lips linger there for a moment before he turns his head up and she gets to kiss him again. The tip of his tongue traces the edge of her lips and she gives into him, parting her own lips along his letting him swallow another gasp as he moves his hand against her. There’s a dark flush against her cheeks but, Kate doesn’t care about how she looks right now. All her thoughts are on the con-man with his hand buried between her legs and that thought alone makes her blush a shade darker.

Her mouth moves carefully against his own. Her tongue wins the dominance, nipping at his own, proving to him that she’s not the little girl he kidnapped back in the United States. He lets her do all this though and he lets her nails dig into his shoulders. They slide over his back. She digs them against the back of his shoulder blades and it makes him hiss out a low sound against her mouth. His fingers curl in against her and Kate can feel herself on a very short ledge. Everything feels out of balance, hot and slick. She can feel his breath against her lower lip and her legs are starting to shake with each thrust of his fingers. That ledge is narrow and they’re playing a dangerous game. Seth is relentless though. Instead of letting her linger on that ledge, he pushes her over it with another curl of his fingers. She’s reduced to incoherent words. Ones that don’t make any sense as she lets her muscles slowly relax, knowing Seth will hold her up. He does just that. Extracting his fingers carefully from her, he moves his hand back to her legs where he holds her with the utmost care despite their current surroundings. 

“You can’t do that anymore.” Seth’s voice is serious. 

“I didn’t mean to,” Kate barely gets the words out before he’s kissing her again. Her back is pressed tighter against the cold tile and he’s kissing her like she’s his last lifeline. His hands keeping her legs apart, dragging her down just enough so he can push himself inside of her. Seth doesn’t stop to ask permission, he doesn’t even bother with a please. He’s a bad man and she knows that, she knows by now this is how they work and she doesn’t reject him. Instead there’s a low moan falling from her lips into his own as she kisses him harder. His hips draw back and then thrust back against her own. The tile is cold, biting into her back, but Kate is too focused on the man in front of her. She’s come a long way from kissing boys in the back of the church. The preacher’s daughter has her legs wrapped around a con-man and she’s listening to him pray against her skin. His words are always low growls, they’re always begging for release. He breaks their kiss, dragging his lips down her jaw. He’s back to biting, nipping down the expanse of her neck. Then he turns his head up and bites on the soft flesh of her earlobe and Kate cries out. 

Seth’s fingers tighten on the backs of her thighs, bruising more of her flesh as he moves his hips harder into her own, pulling almost completely out before thrusting back into her. His teeth nip along her earlobe before he lets his head drop down, forehead pressing on to her bony shoulder. He can feel her tightening around him, enjoying the way her jagged nails keep marking him up. He’ll have scratches for days from her. The thought makes him thrust harder, pulling on her hips harder. He’s pulling her to meet his every thrust, her weight being pulled completely onto him. It’s difficult in the shower but he manages to hold her against the wall while driving his hips up against her own. Kate’s face is buried against the crook of his neck where she’s making the most heavenly of sounds as he thrusts harder against her. She tightens her legs around his waist, urging him on as her lips drag over the flames of his tattoo, tracing down along his shoulders. She’s mapping out every inch of him she can touch, watching as drops of water trace down his flesh. He’s stirring up another rush of heat within her, pushing her once more against a ledge, threatening to make her fall. One of Seth’s hands moves up from her legs, his palm slipping up against her flat stomach before dipping down. His calloused fingers slip down between them and he manages to throw her off of that proverbial ledge. 

Kate’s fingers tighten on him and she’s squirming against his hold, the water making everything that much slicker as she shouts out a broken version of his name. It’s enough to keep him going, his hand pressing over that same spot as he thrusts up against her once more. He slams into Kate once more, before pulling out of her. She can feel the sticky warmth slipping down her thighs, mixing with the water as he sinks in against her. His forehead falls once again to her clavicle. He’s breathing hard against her flushed skin, knees shaking. He can barely hold her up as she starts sliding her fingers through his hair, pushing it down and away from his forehead before she leans in. She gives him a small soft kiss. It’s almost too innocent a gesture, even for her. Carefully he moves her under the spray of water, letting her back down on to shaking legs. It’s here he finishes washing her hair, fingers combing through her dark locks of hair before he lathers up a wash rag and traces over her legs. 

“See?” Kate speaks up over the spray of water. The hot water is almost all gone, the spray is getting cooler as he drags the rag over her hips once more, “We can be normal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always accepting prompts on my tumblr: @fullofgeckos


	14. King of Broken Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Can you write something where Seth mourns Kate?

“How does it feel to be a King?”

Her voice is so close he can almost feel her lips brushing the shell of his ear. Only when he jerks awake, she’s gone. Still gone. Kate has been gone for months but here she is, in another dream of his. He closes his eyes, she’s there. He looks left and swears she’s lingering to his right. Preacher’s Daughter is haunting him. Reminding him that his original deal with her is broken. He can still feel the warmth of her back on his hand as he promised her, ‘no bumps, no scrapes’ and here she was dead. They didn’t even have a funeral.

He didn’t get to say goodbye.

All he had was her blurry image in the rear view mirror and now she’s in his dreams. Seth’s knuckles tighten over the edge of his mattress, gripping at the sheets so tight they lose their grip on the bed. Sweat slips along the back of his neck and he closes his eyes tight in hopes that this is just another nightmare. The motel room is temporarily plunged in darkness and he can hear her again. Her soft little voice so close to his ear.

“Partners don’t leave one another. You fed me to the dogs.”

“No,” His voice is not it’s usual unwavering self. It’s barely a whisper heard over the sound of the rumbling air conditioner. Seth doesn’t open his eyes as he turns his dark head down into the flat pillow. He buries himself there, hiding from the woman who he left behind.

“I would never leave you and look what you did to me! Look at me Seth!” Her voice is loud, demanding, and broken. The shout has him sitting up in bed, eyes open. He half expects to see some angry vengeful spirit looming over his bed. Only there is nothing. Nothing except an empty hotel room. The air conditioner keeps motoring on and colorful neon lights bleed through the curtains, illuminating his room. He is alone.

Richie is gone for the night, leaving him alone to his demons. Reaching up, he runs his hands through his dark hair, pushing it back and messing it up even further. He rubs the sleep away from his eyes and tries to make the world come back into focus. The white sheets around him are damp and he suddenly misses her more than ever. He misses her small form curled up on the edge of the bed, determined not to touch him, but somehow always finding him. He misses the way her hair soaked the pillows after a shower, leaving behind the smell of motel soap and something much more Kate.

He even misses that damn bible of hers and that golden cross slung around her throat. Pulling himself from the bed he keeps those images for himself. It’s nothing anyone needs to know about and it’s nothing he wants to share with the world as he drags himself to the bathroom. He leaves the door open, florescent light on making the room ten times brighter. The sink is a disgusting off-white color but the water runs clear and he let’s it get icy before splashing water on his face. The water shocks him awake as he braces his hands down on the sink. His fingers grip the basin and the water runs over his face in small rivers. He can practically hear her now, snoring quietly in her sleep. Worn out from trying to stay up all night, blankets clutched to her chest.

“I’m sorry,” He breathes out the words and he can practically hear her asking what he’s sorry for. His shitty apology to the empty bathroom means absolutely nothing to anyone but him. He opens his eyes and catches his reflection in the mirror, and the image of Kate standing behind him. His heart skips a beat and when he turns, he’s greeted with nothing more than an empty motel room. She is gone and he is the King of broken promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh how I've missed writing these two. -- Please feel free to send me prompts @elektranatchiohs


	15. “You can’t keep doing this to me.”

Sleep is not something that comes easy to him. When he closes his eyes, he can still hear her voice. He can still feel the heat of her palm on his cheek, fingers stroking along the edge of an unruly beard. It’s a ghost of a sensation and jolts him awake. It doesn’t matter where in the desert he is, there’s still no Kate. There’s no angel in the bed across from him, just an empty set of sheets where Richie should be, but he’s not. He’s probably out in the dark, hunting and skulking around for a meal like a true snake. Seth’s stomach churns and he forces himself out of the bed, untangles himself from the sheets and stumbles into the bathroom. His legs are sore, knees knocking together and his stomach is churning from bad tequila but he manages to make it to the cold porcelain sink. His bloody knuckles fumble along in the dark and he finally manages to turn on the cold water, letting it run over his hands before splashing it in his face. He looks up and catches the sight of something red in the mirror.

He’s left the bathroom door open, but there’s no real light in the hotel room other than the clock on the nightstand. It’s barely two in the morning and there’s nothing more than the sound of the water rushing through the pipes. He groans softly and moves back to the sink, splashes his face a few more times and then shuts down the water, grabbing the towel off of the rack. He blots away the cold water and makes his way back to the bed. The small window air conditioning unit is on high, rattling the thin walls of the rented room. He runs hands through his hair, scratching his calloused fingers down along the shadow of a beard on his jaw. Exhaustion runs through his bones and he flops back on the mattress, watching the ceiling with little interest.

His eyes flutter shut and he can hear her laugh. It echoes in his head, cuts in over the sound of the rumbling air conditioning unit. Her laugh is followed by the soft whisper of a prayer, he can almost see the little gold cross spilling between her fingers as she says her little prayer. She always slips his name in just before the little ‘amen’ – he used to scoff at her.

He used to tell her to stop that.

A train rattles by in the distance. The whistle blows and he opens his eyes. There is still no Kate. The hotel room is empty, filled with nothing more than his guilt and pathetic reasonings, skin itching for a hint of venom.

“You can’t keep doing this to me.” He whispers into the room. Shadows dance along the walls and his insides plummet in a free fall. Seth stretches and rolls over, digs his hands into the white sheets and pulls until they snap against the cheap mattress. He squeezes his eyes shut and he can see her sweet smile.

He can still smell the faint scent of chlorine as she leaves her swimsuit hanging in the bathroom of yet another hotel room, another place with a crappy pool that she loves so dearly to float around in. Seth groans again, rolling onto his stomach and curling his hand into a uniformed fist. He pounds against the mattress, hitting the old springs in his fury. The scent of chlorine fades, all he can smell is blood. All he can hear is her scream.

She died alone.

He left her alone and she died. Guilt eats him from the inside out. Seth Gecko, charming bastard, kills young girls with wide eyes and sharp smiles. His heart stutters around in his chest. He doesn’t want her to haunt him anymore – but he wants to relish in the feeling of his heart beating again. He is alive with the memory of her.

“Kate, Kate, Kate…” He stops hitting the mattress and turns his head over, for a moment his eyes deceive him and he can see her laying in the bed next to his. He can see her curled over with auburn hair spilling across the pillows and gold chain glinting in the night.

His vision clears and there is nothing there. No Kate, no reasons for his heart to go on beating.

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of answered prompts from my tumblr @elektranatchiohs  
> Mostly unedited, writing exercises. Will be updated as I continue to answer prompts.


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